Scamnesty Bins For Bogus Lottery Letters
South Tyneside Council is providing special bins enabling residents to dispose of bogus letters advising of a lottery win. Referred to as “Scamnesty Bins”, the red boxes will be located in South Tyneside’s libraries and council offices. Council Chiefs have been quoted as commenting the bins are ideal for placing suspect mail in; enabling Trading Standards Officers the opportunity to gain information as to the identity of the scamsters. The mailings are then securely destroyed.
First person to use the facility was Cllr. Peter Boyack, Labour Councillor for Whitburn, who disposed of a letter informing him he had won 815,950 euros from the Spanish El Gordo Lottery. The letter advised he had to provide a copy of his identity, along with his bank details.
Cllr. Boyack said: “I was taken by surprise on receipt of an official looking letter informing me that I had won more than £800,00 in the Spanish Lottery – particularly as I have not visited Spain of recent, so, I certainly have not bought a lottery ticket from there.”
“This is clearly a fraudulent attempt to obtain my bank details, which the scammers would either use in an attempt to siphon money from my account, or, sell the details on to other gangs, enabling them to steal my identity.”
“I would strongly advise the community to be on the defensive, as it is so easy to be misled by these letters and e.mails. Never part with personal or financial details in order to receive an alleged prize or lottery win.”
The Scamnesty bins are being given a high profile in council offices and libraries as part of the Office of Fair Trading’s Scams Awareness Month promotion.
The moral of the story is to participate only in an officially regulated Lottery Organisation such as e-Lottery, a member of the UK Lottery Council.
Source acknowledged with thanks: Shields Gazette Saturday 20th February 2010
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